TMG Scale 9.0 MPAA Rating: PG-13
Starring Ed Norton, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Harvey Keitel
Short Review: Sam is a Khaki Scout (boy scout) in a 1965 New England outpost or island or some such magical little spit of land and time where boys were really boys and girls really ran away from home with Samsonite luggage. Sam is an awkward kid at camp and is certainly the junior version of Corporal Willie Santiago from A Few Good Men (1992). Sam escapes before given a boy scout code red but his former buddies certainly try to make up for it while hunting him down.
Suzy is a burnt out romantic tween just dying for someone who is honest in her life. Sam and Suzy hatch an escape and the little New England isle is turned upside down trying to find them and bring them back from their new found lagoon of paradise and innocence to the dirty real world they so wanted to escape. Sam Suzy communicate texting style in a world before cell phones and email. They use hand written notes. So their actions are all contemplative and direct, …and as impulsive as the world in 1965 allowed given such slow communication.
It all sounds benign enough. However, the script is amazingly imaginative and funny. Sam is an odd duck. Suzy is a wild bird. They work well together. The acting is superlative and Ed Norton deserves and Oscar nomination at the least. The under 21 crowd may not have the life, historical or emotional experience to “get it”—everyone else will. This is an awesome date movie. It is sweet. It is endearing. It is funny and it is great storytelling. It only lacks huge social impact which is why TMG does not give it a 10.0. This movie is too good to spoil for you by a longer review. Go see it.
This is a film to give on DVD this Christmas. Put it on your list.